Engines, such as those which power aircraft and industrial equipment, may employ a compressor to compress air that is drawn into the engine and a turbine to capture energy associated with a combustion of a fuel-air mixture. Seals are used in engines to isolate a fluid from one or more areas/regions of the engine. For example, seals control various parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure) within the engine and ensure proper/efficient engine operation and stability.
A metallic finger seal that includes overlapping sheet metal segments is a known type of seal. For example, U.S. patent application publication number 2015/0354384 (hereinafter the '384 publication) describes/illustrates embodiments of an engine incorporating a finger seal. The contents of the '384 publication are incorporated herein by reference.
It can be difficult to provide adequate sealing using, e.g., a finger seal over the operational range of an engine due to a variety of factors. Such factors include irregular/odd-shaped component profiles, component tolerances, nominal/normal component deflections (e.g., relative motion between components), and large magnitude deflections (e.g., deflections resulting from increased/maximum maneuvers). Design options for a seal may be limited in some instances. For example, in terms of accommodating legacy/existing engine hardware, design options may be limited due to pre-existing constraints.